Hello all! I'm new to Flyertalk, mainly reading posts (LEARNING SO MUCH!) and learning more about the site, where to post and not to post, etc.. I write and illustrate books for young people for a living (mainly work with Simon & Schuster but have also worked with Random House and Harpercollins, among others). Before the pandemic, I did a fair amount of flying for work, including some book tours in which I'd have to fly to a new airport every day. I know some of you out there are used to this, but I always found this super stressful. I have only recently realized that I would be less stressed if I take the time to find out more about the various airlines and airports I use, make the effort to find out more about the programs I'm in (I only JUST used my first eUpgrade credits in Aeroplan...I have a bunch accumulated which I've ignored). I know there are many aspects of flying/travel that are out of our control -- and I've had soooo many happen to me over the years -- but there are also so many that I *can* control. My husband and I are also starting to do more leisure travel, and I'm doing more research about how to take more advantage of Aeroplan and other programs I'm in.

Workstuff: My illustrations appear in books by Judy Blume, Michael Ian Black, Linda Sue Park, Aaron Reynolds and others. If you have a copy of the re-issued chapter and middle grade Judy Blume books from Atheneum/Simon & Schuster like "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret", you'll see my cover illustration credit inside (I did not help with the YA books with photographic covers). I also have written and illustrated picture books for S&S and am working on my next. Also working on a middle grade novel and a graphic novel. My FIRST career was a systems programmer/analyst where I programmed in COBOL (yes, I am a dinosaur) for the Toronto Dominion's head office.

Hobbystuff: I am an avid board gamer, and my husband and I hope to someday visit the big trade show in Essen. You can find some of my board gaming comics on the BoardGameGeek website. I am a hobby songwriter and musician - my songs have aired on CBC radio via my music group. I play, with varying degrees of competence: keyboard/piano, flute, Celtic harp, tin whistle, guitar, assorted bangy percussion things. I enjoy creating comics (and someday hope to create a comic or two for the Flyertalk community for the fun of it - though I'm not sure if there is an appropriate forum?) and have had several webcomics in the past including Will Write For Chocolate, My Life In A Nutshell (covers period where I sold my website), Waiting For Frodo (about a fan waiting in line for the Lord Of The Rings movies - some people at Weta Digital were fans!). I am a big fan of virtual reality art since my husband gave me an Oculus Quest headset early in the pandemic, and have been learning how to create stuff that way as well.

You can find more about me at DebbieOhi.com, on Twitter at [MENTION=48055]inky[/MENTION]elbows and on Instagram at [MENTION=10117107]inkygirl[/MENTION]. Looking forward to getting to know others in the Flyertalk community!

Debbie